


Hearth, Home, and Family

by tin2lo



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Drautos is good, F/M, slight lunyx, the kingsglaive aren't traitors
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 03:33:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12356568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tin2lo/pseuds/tin2lo
Summary: 3 times Nyx angered Drautos and the 1 time he didn't.





	Hearth, Home, and Family

**Author's Note:**

> AU where everyone lives, Drautos and the Kingsglaive were loyal to the king, and Niflheim didn’t succeed in taking over all of Lucis and Tenebrae. I truly believe that had Lucis won during the Galahdian wars and they didn’t end up giving up those territories, Drautos and the rest of the bad Kingsglaive members would’ve joined for the same reasons that Nyx did. Out of loyalty to a king that saved them. Slightly OOC and I’m sorry for that. Also slight Lunyx.
> 
> Inspired from a lot of different places but mainly by Disney’s Tarzan.

1.

Titus Drautos could begin to feel the vein in his head throbbing from the anger he was holding inside of him.  He looked up from desk to one if his soldiers standing in front of him, hands behind his back: Nyx Ulric.  Luche, Drautos’ second in command, who had delivered him the notices, stood to the side as he observed the scene unfolding before him.  Luche also stood tall with his hands behind his back, his commander’s anger not fazing him.  He expected this reaction.

“Tell me again, Luche,” Drautos said while trying to hold back his anger.

Luche took a deep breath before looking back and forth from the captain and Nyx and reciting again what was written on the paper.  “Last night at 22 hundred hours, squadron 2 went on a stealth mission to infiltrate one of the Niflheim bases.  At 22:40, word was received that infiltration was a success but the squad had but put under fire.  Contact was lost up until around 23:04 when we received word that squadron 2 had been successful in infiltration as well as capture of 2 generals and a lieutenant.  Only 3 members had suffered minor injuries but there is no casualty on our end.”

“And the base?”

“Destroyed in the fighting, captain. The glaives took the hostages and left the base to burn.”

Drautos’ anger was getting so high that he began to crumple the papers in his hands in a tight fist.  He took a deep breath.  His hard gaze never leaving Nyx’s while Nyx’s own gaze stayed solid.  “You lead the charge, Ulric?”

“Yes sir,” Nyx’s voice devoid of any emotion.

“Did I give you the authority to?”  Drautos’ voice was still eerily calm.

“No sir.”

Drautos finally snapped and in the blink of an eye stood from his desk, hands slamming down loudly.  “Then what the hell were you thinking infiltrating a Nif base?”

“I…”  Nyx began but Drautos stopped him.

“Don’t answer that!”  He yelled.  “You weren’t thinking at all!  Do you not understand what you were risking?  What you were asking your brothers in arms to risk?  And for what?  To feed your sense of heroism?”

Drautos walked over to Nyx and got close to his face.  He spoke in low tones.  “Could you live with the death of one of your brothers on your shoulders?”  He pulled away and turned his back on Nyx.  “Could you live with putting Lucis, our hearth and home, in danger?”  He turns back to Nyx.  “Maybe one day if you ever rise up the ranks, you’ll have your own squadron to look after.  And then you can do whatever it is that runs through that idiot mind of yours.  But until then, you and the other glaives are under my command and the King’s good graces.  Understand?”

Nyx stayed stoic as ever.  “Yes sir.”

Drautos nodded.  “You’re on desk duty for the next month.  The glaive is the only family any of us have here.  Learn to respect that.”

Nyx swallowed hard.  “Yes sir,” he said quietly.

Drautos eyed him up and down, a hard glare still on his face.  “Dismissed.”  And with that, Nyx nodded and left.

Drautos took a deep breath as Nyx closed the door behind him.  No one outside of the Glaive, other than the king himself cared about what happened to the glaive.  And King Regis had already given them a lot.  So if that meant that Titus Drautos had to play parent to the whole of the glaive then so be it.  Even if it meant punishing one of his problem children.

2.

Drautos stepped out of the car and looked around him.  His glaives gave their all in that battle and the aftermath was starting to hit them all hard.  Some glaives could only walk a few steps before collapsing in exhaustion.  Others were carrying injured glaives on stretchers to waiting cars.  “Luche, report.”

“The imperial forces look to be...withdrawing, sir...”  Both men were confused but didn’t show it.  Luche continued to rattle off the rest of the report.  A large number of the glaive were dead, but even more were injured.  Drautos closed his eyes and took a deep breath.  All those brothers and sisters in arms, gone or hurt.  Damn Nifelheim.

After a minute longer mourning the lost glaive, Drautos opened his eyes and looked at Luche.  “And what’s this I heard over the com earlier about Ulric?”

Luche flinched knowing that his captain wouldn’t want to hear this but otherwise told him.

It wasn’t hard to find Nyx among the glaive.  He had made it a usual thing in which he sat by himself to contemplate after every battle.  Drautos wanted to rush over and chastise him but Nyx wasn’t a recruit anymore.  Drautos couldn’t just yell at his stupidity and punish him like a child anymore.  Nyx wouldn’t listen anyway.  So might as well reserve his energy and approach Nyx slowly so to keep his temper even.  “You disobeyed a direct order to retreat.”

Nyx didn’t even look at him.  “For hearth and home, right?  As long as I got strength in my body, I obey  _ that  _ order.”

Titus didn’t know whether to feel proud of his loyalty that saved one less glaive from dying that night, or to feel anger at the fact that he risked his life and could’ve ended up as one of the dead.  Recruit or not, Nyx was still one of his biggest problem children.

“Don’t fool yourself there, Nyx Ulric.  Whatever strength you have is on loan from the king.  You are nothing without him.”  Nyx didn’t even flinch.  Everyone knew they owed a lot to their king.  “Await details of your reassignment.”  Titus walked away after that knowing that there was nothing more that could be said or done.

3.

Drautos shoved Nyx roughly against the wall when the hallway emptied of other people.  “What did you do?” He scream whispered.

Nyx tried to get up off the wall but Drautos shoved him back and put a firm hand over his shoulder pinning him back.  “I didn’t do  _ anything. _ ”

“Like hell you did, Nyx!” Titus let go and took a step back.  “Lady Lunafreya just walked in there and announced to the entire council that she was breaking her engagement to Prince Noctis.   _ You  _ are the one who had the most contact with the princess during her stay.   _ You  _ were the one who lead the glaive on her rescue mission from Nifelheim.  So if  _ you  _ didn’t do anything, then at the very least you know why she did what she did.”

Nyx huffed in anger.  “I told you.  I don’t know why.”

After years of training in both combat and psychological interrogation techniques, Titus could see Nyx wasn’t telling him the full truth.  His words were firm showing some sense of truth, but he wouldn’t make eye contact.  Instead choosing to look at a spot just above Titus’ shoulder rather than his eyes.  Titus took a step back and examined his best glaive.  He thought back to every encounter Nyx ever had with the princess.  Every private walk or outing, every piece of overtime Nyx requested to stay by the Princess.  He thought back to it all, from the moment the King requested him as the princess’ personal bodyguard to the moment Nyx burst into a council meeting uninvited saying he suspected the princess’ kidnapping.  Suddenly everything became clear.  “You love her, don’t you?” He said in almost a whisper.

Nyx didn’t confirm or deny but his silence was everything.  Drautos rubbed his face violently.  Of all the idiotic things Nyx had done in his glaive career, this took the cake.  “You IDIOT!  Do you realize what you could have potentially done?  What were your orders when you were assigned to her?”

Nyx swallowed hard.  “Not to look…” he began with a whisper.

“Not to look, not to listen, not to think!” Drautos finished angrily.

“My orders were also to protect her, sir.”  Nyx replied back through gritted teeth.

“But protecting her didn’t mean falling in love with her!  Nyx, she just broke her engagement to our prince!  We needed that alliance with Tenebrae to keep the Nifs at bay!  Do you think their attacks are going to get better or worse now?!  During your little love affair, did you stop once to think about how this could impact our country?  The glaive?  Your  _ life,  _ even?”

Nyx did think about it.  Every single day and every moment he ever shared with Lunafreya, he thought about it.  At first it wasn’t supposed to mean anything.  He was her personal bodyguard and that was all.  But then they started getting close.  He didn’t walk behind her anymore.  He stood beside her.  And she asked questions.  She wanted a friend.  So Nyx gave her his friendship.  And friendship, afterwards, had lead to so much more until they were falling down a very deep hole.  But still the thought of the war Lucis, the glaive, and the crownsguard would have to fight because of it, was never far from his mind.

“With all due respect sir, but did anyone ask  _ her  _ how she felt going through with it in the first place?” Nyx asked through gritted teeth as he tried to keep his cool.

“It doesn’t matter!  That’s not for us to decide!  If she had a problem with the engagement to begin with she could’ve spoken about it with the King and his council and they would’ve dealt with whatever doubts she had then.   _ You  _ didn’t need to push the process along!”

Both men stopped to take calming breaths.  If they got any angrier, their conversation could be heard by the wrong person walking along the corridors.  “You’re going to end it with her, do you understand me?  Break her heart, do whatever you have to but find a way to make her take back the engagement.  I’m going to clean up this mess you made by making sure your ass isn’t court martialed or worse, executed.”

Drautos turned away from Nyx and took a deep, calming breath as he rubbed a hand over his face.  He turned back around and looked at Nyx.  He held his firm stance but his face was turned to the side.  Drautos could see the doubt on it and the pain in his eyes.  Drautos was asking or a lot from Nyx, now that he stopped to think about it.  He sighed again before completely facing Nyx.  He placed a comforting hand on Nyx’s shoulder and spoke surprisingly soft for the captain of the Kingsglaive.

“Look, I understand that this will be hard, especially for you.  You’ve never been one to open up.  But this isn’t Galahd, where we married for love.  This is Lucis and she’s the princess.  I’m sorry.  But for once, I need you to pick the glaive, your  _ family,  _ over yourself for once.”

Drautos gave Nyx a reassuring pat before walking away.  He had been breaking in his soldiers for years since becoming captain of the elite squad.  But this was a new level of broken he had inflicted.

X.

It didn’t matter that the princess broke her engagement.  Nifelheim had attacked later that day anyway.  Intel had proved that they had been planning it even before the broken engagement.

Nifelheim somehow was able to infiltrate the capitol.  Insomnia had become a battlefield now.  Citizens were running for their lives, crownsguard and kingsglaive were trying to hold the enemy back, and MTs kept falling from the skies.  Insomnia was in pure chaos.

Drautos felt so stupid.  How could the Nifs get passed him and the joint safety precautions he had planned with Clarus Amicitia and Cor the Immortal?  It didn’t matter anymore.  What mattered was that in the event of an invasion, priority was getting the royal family to safety and safeguarding the crystal.  Drautos ran through the halls of the palace, fighting Nif soldiers who were lucky enough to make it that far and barking orders into his com.

Drautos burst through the throne room’s doors to find the king and princess trying to stay back while Nyx battled one of the man generals by himself.  In a flash, he unsheathed his weapon and warped towards the general.  Although it was two against one, the general was resilient.  He wasn’t giving them an in.  He could see the frustration and fatigue on Nyx’s face as well as he could feel it in his own body.  

He glanced behind him.  The royals were still crouched low.  Drautos turned to Nyx, “get them out of here!”

Without questioning his captain, Nyx ran to Luna and the King and began lifting the king up.  As they were fully standing, Nyx wrapped Regis’ arm around his shoulders as Luna did the same on the other side.  Regis’ bad leg and new injuries restricting him somewhat from walking on his own.  Before they could move though, Nyx looked up to see the general’s sword pierce through Drautos’ body.  “No!”  He screamed.  Without a second thought to the king or his lady love beside him, he warped towards the general and fought with everything he had.

The pain was unbearable.  The moment the sword went through him, Drautos knew this would be his end.  His vision was getting hazy but he tried to keep his eyes open a little while longer.  He knew the moment he closed them, they wouldn’t be opening again.  And he needed to tell Nyx one last thing after he won the fight.  Because he  _ will  _ win the fight.  The hero.  

Drautos watched in delirious pride as Nyx managed to weaken the general long enough for the king to send one strong blast of his magic his way, temporarily taking him out.  In a flash, Nyx was by his side.  “Captain?  Captain!  Stay with me...we’re going to get you help…”  He put pressure on the giant open wound on Drautos’ chest.  Luna came as well and sat beside Nyx.  He turned to her.  “You can help him can’t you?  You said you can heal people.”

Luna looked to the fallen captain with sadness in her eyes.  They shared a meaningful look that told Drautos everything he needed to know about his condition.  She placed one of her hands on top of Nyx’s hand barely covering the wound.  Luna looked up at Nyx, trying to convey with her eyes her apology that she couldn’t speak with words.

“Why...why aren’t you doing anything?”  Nyx plead with her.

“Because...she knows…” Titus started speaking in labored breaths.  “That it won’t...help any…”

Nyx turned his head quickly back to his captain.  “Don’t say that!  You’re going to be fine.  You have to be fine.  Lucis needs you.  The glaive needs you.  Remember?  Our family, you always tell us.”

“Nyx...stop…”  Nyx did as he was commanded.

With a deep breath and a flash of pain and realization on his face, Nyx submitted.  “Forgive me…”  Nyx felt so stupid.  He shouldn’t have tried to run with Regis and Luna.  Yes he was ordered to, but when was he ever one for orders?  Had he continued fighting with the general, Drautos wouldn’t be dying.   _ Pick the glaive over yourself for once... _ he should’ve listened.

“No…”  Drautos could barely breathe out.  “...forgive  _ me _ ...for not understanding...that you have always chosen the path that protected others...a true glaive...a true hero…” Nyx couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  Throughout his entire glaive career, Drautos never got sentimental about anything, especially not when it came to Nyx’s place in the glaive.  And he never once gave credit for the heroic deeds Nyx accomplished, be it authorized heroics or not.

“Our family…” Drautos continued, “...will look to you now…”  He took one more breath before pulling out his personal kukris from the sheath and handing it to Nyx.  “Take care of them…my son...”  As Nyx grasped the kukris, Drautos let it go and succumbed to the pain as his arm fell away.

Nyx looked at the bloody weapon in his hand.  The pain in his chest so much more painful than any physical wound ever inflicted on him.  Nyx, Luna, and Regis sat with their heads bowed, taking a moment to mourn the fallen captain.

In a moment, Nyx lifted his head and took a deep breath before giving Luna a determined look.  “Take the king and find some place to hide.  Lock yourselves in and have a weapon on you.”

Luna’s eyes widened at his instructions and his determination.  “What are you doing?”

Nyx stood up tall, as if the previous fight didn’t take away all of his strength.  He looked at both Regis and Luna, determination and fire in his eyes.  “ _ For hearth and home,  _ I swear.  This ends tonight.”

And with that, he left the two royals to follow his instructions and joined his brothers, his  _ family _ , amongst the battle of Insomnia.


End file.
